Forum: Story Discussion and Feedback

A lot of writers seem to take an approach to suicide that glances over it

One of the few things I dislike about Grey Wolf's 'Variation On A Theme' series is the treatment of a female character who tried to commit suicide. I find it hard to believe a suicidal person would actually be treated that way - it seems over the top and almost as if they're being punished a second time.

AJ

One of the few things I dislike about Grey Wolf's 'Variation On A Theme' series is the treatment of a female character who tried to commit suicide. I find it hard to believe a suicidal person would actually be treated that way - it seems over the top and almost as if they're being punished a second time.

There are 2 things you have to keep in mind regarding Gray's take on suicide. First of all, his setting is in the 1980's so how the react to suicide is far different than the way we look at it today.

The other thing you have to keep in mind is that his character was recovering from a lot more than just a suicide. I won't get into all of it since some people may not have read the story, but you know what I'm referring to. Her treatment wasn't just for the suicide attempt, it was/is to help get to the underlying cause of it. It actually isn't too far off from how things could have been done in real life. I personally know of a kid who was caught in the middle of an altercation with his divorced parents. The kid himself didn't do anything violent or confrontational. He never once mentioned suicide or self-harm, but the fight was so bad that one of the parents decided to have him stay for a week in a mental health facility. Just to make sure he was okay. What was supposed to just be a week turned into three weeks because doctors wanted him to stay.

So for the case of Gray's character, especially 20 years ago, it wouldn't be unheard of for them to do something like that. Did Gray go overboard? I don't know. I can't say because there is so much left unwritten about that character. There's still a lot we don't know about how they responded to treatment.

I thought the protagonist's foreknowledge that after she tried to commit suicide she would be in isolation for months and they could never be friends again was unrealistic.

Is it really the practice in America to isolate someone who tried to commit suicide from all their close friends, when the friends had nothing to do with the suicide attempt?

AJ

The premise is to remove influences that may have driven the attempt

The root cause of the suicide attempt was promptly dealt with, and it didn't involve the circle of friends.

AJ

It wasn't (and isn't) uncommon for someone with issues of that sort to need extensive counseling. In the story, it's clear that, a month or two in, the character in question is still having strong suicidal thoughts and taking actions in support of them. Perhaps things would be very differetn in 2021; medicines have improved considerably (though can still have major issues).

Switching to the 'foreknowledge' statement, that's partly 1980 and partly simply 'reality'. You're slightly overstating things; he didn't expect that they could never be friends, rather that being lovers was over. He's always intended to remain friends. While they're physically isolated, they were in contact over the phone in a few weeks.

But, it being 1980, someone who attempted suicide wouldn't go back to the school they were in - at least, not someone whose parents could afford to put them somewhere else. The negative social pressures would be overwhelming. There's a perfectly obvious alternative in sight, that her parents can easily afford, and that would make her treatment team happy.

So, my main character forcing himself to decide things were over seems reasonable to me. Perhaps he could've decided to wait and see, but then he has his own flaws, which might be a factor in how he handled things.

Obviously, I could've written it to be 'faster', but that didn't feel realistic in this circumstance. Almost everything is left off the page, intentionally, because neither my main characters nor the reader should know the details. It's someone else's story. How much others reveal is how much they know, and besides someone letting them know that treatment is progressing, but hitting issues, and so forth, there's not much more to say.

it's your story and I've ground my axe. But what I would say is that it's a very good story and I recommend people to read it.

AJ

Thanks! And, yes, I agree that it could've gone several different ways.

Don Lockwood's Heroes is a fav of mine because the heroine takes months of therapy and new friends to discover a reason to live. Even then, there were setbacks and severe bumps in the road.

Also there is a long and very ugly history in the us of insane asylums and psychiatric hospitals abusing and even out right torturing patients.

In the UK too :-(

Without breaking any confidences, I can't see any justification for stripping patients and hosing them with cold water.

Nowadays we're supposed to worship the 'Care in the Community' mantra, except it's grossly underfunded. So someone who tried to commit suicide might well spend a few token days in hospital getting physically patched up, then get booted out to face a six month waiting list for counselling.

AJ